The whole horse fiasco had cost him a precious hour, which now made the journey from Ylivieska to Kalajoki even more painstaking.
"C'mon, boys! Giddyup!" He twitched the reins, checking his pocket for the twentieth time to make sure the tiny blue box was still in there.
It was.
He’d sent a telegram to both his mother and Anna's to make sure she was there when he arrived. Assuming they got the message, everything would be ready.
He huddled into his fur-lined parka and settled into the ride, fidgeting the reins with each slow step. Finally, after an hour, he spotted the lane that led up to the Ojala farmhouse. Matti swallowed impatiently. He could make it faster walking. Or running.
Lord, I have to get this right today. Itemizing through a mental checklist, he confirmed that everything was ready. It had taken some finagling—and some major help from Takala's sister in Helsinki—but it seemed that everything was in order.
He only had to convince Anna to say yes.
Taking the steps leading at the farmhouse two at a time, he burst in the door and smiled at Mrs. Ojala, who grinned widely upon seeing him. "Matti!"
He winked and paused for a moment to catch his breath. "Are we all ready?"
She beamed. "About time you got here, Matti. She's been a total mess all week. It was all I could do not to tell her so she'd stop wallowing."
"Let's hope I can help her to snap out of it."
Matti's mother walked into the room, her eyes sparkling. "My boy." She straightened his collar and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm so proud of you."
He smiled back. "Where's Anna?"
"I asked her to work on some mending for me in the living room." Anna's mom said conspiratorially. "Told her if she was to mope away the day, she could do it with busy hands."
Matti turned toward the room. This was it.
He stopped and composed himself before peering in. There she was—his one true love—sitting on the sofa darning a sock while staring out the window into the snowy pasture. The sad look on her face proved to him that her mom had been right about the moping.
Well, not for long. He hoped.
"Anna…"
Her gaze shot up, a look of confusion clouding out the sparkling green.
"Matti?" She dropped the sock in her lap and her hands fluttered to her cheeks.
How had he ever told her no? "Anna." He moved to stand in front of her and then bent on one knee. He stroked her bare arm with his hand, marveling at the silkiness of her skin.
"What are you doing here?" She managed. Her voice came out breathless as if she’d been ice skating on the pond in the back field.
Matti choked back the sweet image. Later, there would be time for these thoughts later. "I came to apologize."
She kept his gaze, locking right on as though she didn't believe what she was hearing.
"I never should have walked away from you last time. I regretted it the instant I pulled out of your driveway. I love you Anna—I love everything about you. Even the side of you that wants to go off on some great adventure."
"I don't know what to say."
"Say you'll forgive me. That you'll give me another chance."
Anna hesitated. Would she turn him away? After he'd come so far?
"I still can't believe you are here. Are you, really?" She touched his hair, and it was all he could do not to lean into her hand.
"You said I would hurt you again. That you were afraid I wouldn’t be content with you."
"I was wrong." He blinked several times. "I love you."
"Matti…" she finally whispered. "I still love you, too."
"I'm sorry, Anna." He tapped her nose with his finger.
She cocked her head to the side.
It was finally time for that kiss he had dreamt about for so long.
His lips press against her soft ones, and he gave into his desire. He pressed harder, wishing he never had to lift his mouth from hers. A quick sigh came from Anna and she tipped her head back and peered into his eyes. She closed her eyes again and he found her lips a second time, reveling in the peace that came with knowing he was finally exactly where he needed to be.
"You'd better watch yourself, Miss Ojala. Too many more kisses like that and a man will have no choice but to go permanently AWOL."
Anna laughed and pointed toward the window. "Speaking of, are you AWOL again?”
He held a finger to her lips. "We'll discuss that later. For now, I have a more important question."
He reached into his pocket, pulled out the blue box, and returned to his knee. "Anna Ojala, will you marry me?" He opened the box to reveal a small solitaire.
Her mouth dropped open and she sighed deeply, clearly struggling to get a grip on the torrent of emotions.
He took her graceful hand into his and squeezed. "I've loved you for more than a year and I don't know if I can go another day without having you as my wife."
Anna opened her mouth and then shut it again. Finally, after several minutes, a smile crept onto her lips. "Yes! My answer is yes."
"Now that's better." He kissed her hand before standing and pulling her into his arms for a long, slow kiss.
She leaned back, a trembling smile radiating from her face. "It's about time you asked me, Sergeant Ranta."
He grinned at her before planting another kiss on her waiting lips.
She pulled back. "Will you get in trouble for being here?"
"Nope! This time I'm here with full permission of the Finnish Military Commission."
"Is the siege over?" Anna looked at him hopefully.
"I wish. It seems as though it'll be forever. But Takala managed to get me two weeks of leave so I could come up here and have Christmas with my wife."
Anna looked at him and laughed. "We can't get married on Christmas. That's just a week away and I don't have a dress or a cake and we haven't talked to Pastor Laiho or anything!"
"Oh, we're not getting married on Christmas." He kissed her quickly on the lips again as a look of disappointment crossed her face. "We're getting married today."
Her wide eyes registered her disbelief. "And how will you make that happen, soldier boy?"
"I had some help."
Anna's lips parted and then closed again. "But we have so much to talk about…to catch up on."
"And we will, my love. But for now, I can't stand the thought of waiting any longer to marry you."
Anna hesitated. "But things are so complicated."
Matti held a finger to her lips. "Shhh, my love. We'll figure it out. Together."
A look of joy crept onto her face. "All right, let's get married, soldier boy."
"I'll head to the church with your father and mine. We'll see you there in an hour."
Anna just sat there, dumbstruck.
"There's a blue box your mother should have put on your bed. That should take care of the dress."
Tears trickled down her face unhindered. "Matti, once again, I don't know what to say."
"You already said it all…you said yes."
72
Kalajoki, Finland
The dress couldn't have been more perfect if she had picked it herself. Anna stood on her tiptoes, and stared at her face in the full-length mirror. It wasn't a traditional wedding dress, but it couldn't have fit her personality more perfectly. Bright emerald satin adorned her bodice, hugging her curves elegantly before flaring at her knees. She twirled, revealing emerald-green heels adorned with tiny white pearls.
"How did he manage to get a dress like this with rations?" She looked up at Mrs. Ranta, wondering who had sacrificed to make her day perfect.
"I guess his commander's dad is pretty high up in the military. His sister Kerttu was able to alter one of her ball gowns to make it just your size."
"It's beautiful." Anna spun around in a twirl, her hands swishing the soft fabric.
"Not as beautiful as you, Anna. Now hold still so I can pin up your hair."
Anna stopped her twirling and sat in front of
the mirror, puckering her lips into a kiss as her mom ran fingers through her unruly waves. She twisted the sides to the back and fastened the loose waves at the nape of Anna’s neck, pinning it with a beautiful pearl comb that had been Anna's grandmother's.
Every detail of this wedding seemed perfect. And it had all been planned without her even knowing.
Anna smiled. How well Matti understood her.
He’d known that she would've been overwhelmed at the idea of planning a wedding—she would've wanted to just skip the formalities and get to the good part of being his wife.
How perfectly he’d planned everything so she could do just that.
Her mother tucked one last tendril behind her ear and smiled. "You look beautiful, Anna."
"Thank you."
Just then, her father walked in, wearing his best Sunday suit. "You ready to become Mrs. Ranta?"
"I've never been more ready." Her fingers trembled as she looped them through her father's, not from nervousness but with excitement.
The two of them stepped out into the church lobby where Tanya stood next to Verushka, propped up in a pram wearing a long, pink gown that Anna had worn at her christening.
"You look adorable, Rushkie dear." Anna tickled her chin and kissed her on her downy curls.
Verushka reached into a basket full of rose petals and tossed a handful out of the side of the pram before sticking one into her mouth.
Tanya ran up to the baby and plucked the entire basket out of her reach. "No, no, baby girl," she whispered.
"Who put flowers in her pram anyway?" Anna asked
"I did. I was letting her be the flower girl," Mrs. Ranta chimed in.
"Already spoiling her." Anna chastised her future mother-in-law with a smile, and discreetly handed Verushka a cookie from the table to chew on instead of the flowers. "Here, this will taste better so you can save the flowers for throwing."
The organ music piped up. Anna peered into the sanctuary, which was packed with all of her friends and family members who stared back at her with expectant smiles.
But those smiles blurred as soon as she caught sight of Matti.
The man who still loved her in all of her independence, her flaws, her impulsivity.The man who gave her a reason to breathe, to hope, to dream.The man with whom she would spend the rest of her life.
Tanya pushed Verushka's pram down the aisle and took a seat toward the front.
Anna's father entered the room. He took her arm-in-arm and smiled at her. "Are you ready, my love?"
"Never been more ready." Anna blinked back tears.
He stepped slowly into the aisle, and together they walked to Matti—her groom! Her love. When her father placed her hand in Matti's, he reached down and kissed her hand tenderly, his eyes revealing a hunger that would only be fulfilled by loving her.
"I love you," he whispered, emotion choking his voice.
"I love you too, Matti." She took his other hand into hers and faced him at the altar. At last. All of her hopes, dreams, and plans were finally coming to fruition. Not in the way that she had planned.
No, everything had worked out just as God had planned.
Author's Note
There are strands of truth woven into the fiction of this story. My grandmother, Kerttu Ojala, grew up in Kalajoki, Finland during the war. Like Anna's family, her family (of ten!) took in a family of six from Karelia after the Moscow Peace Treaty. They literally split their house in half, dividing their farm, possessions, and their livelihood with a family of strangers. It was incredibly hard—I imagine—but lifelong friendships were forged during those years of poverty, despair, and ultimately, hope.
Several of my great uncles fought in the Finnish army during the war. Many of them participated both in the winter war, and were (somewhat) unwilling participants in the siege of Leningrad. Like most Finns, my relatives desperately wanted to win back Karelia for Finland but were very skeptical of the Nazi partnership and hated the idea of keeping food and supplies out of a city of civilians. In the end, Finland held their lines with the Germans on the outskirts of Leningrad from August 1941 until January 1944, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths as the city nearly starved.
Like Matti, many of my grandmother's Finnish brothers, cousins and uncles were outgoing and passionate, often carrying the emotional side of a relationship, while the women were more analytical. It showed in the way they courted, married, dated, and even in the way they fought.
Like Anna, my grandmother dreamed of going to America. Her older sister Vera applied first and got a visa just after the war, but in a last minute change of plans, my grandmother decided to take her place. She used a washcloth to erase her sister's name and an old typewriter to write her own. It's amazing that it was that simple—but it worked. She came to America in the mid 1940's, married a Finnish lawyer, and raised five children in Oregon. She is now 88 years old and lives right next door to me and my family.
A Devotional Moment
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. ~ Psalm 23:6
God’s love endures forever, and Christians are to emulate it to our best ability. By doing so, we show the love that God has for us so that others may start a relationship with God for themselves. People can love an infinite number of other people—it’s the amazing way God has made us—but sometimes we experience a once-in-a-lifetime love which is so deep, that it transcends all other earthly loves. This love is ever faithful and fulfills the commandment to love one another fully.
In Painting Home, there are two storylines which intersect, each showing how humans can do extraordinary things because of the profound love they have for another. Lives are transformed by that love, and lives are changed in ways they never expected.
Have you ever known someone who was so in love with God that their eyes glimmered with it, their speech resonated with it, their actions proved it? Did you admire them—want what they had—or did you think there was something wrong with them—that their Christianity was too rigid or freakish? We are to love God with such a passion that nothing can usurp it—the same type of sacrificial love He has for us. A love that beckons others towards God. As an extension of that love, we are to love others, also. Even when they are unlovable.
The next time you are tempted to roll your eyes at someone’s genuine piety, stay yourself. Ask yourself if it isn’t true that deep down you want what they have: that deep relationship with God that surpasses all understanding. If you want it, you can have it! God is waiting. Cultivate the relationship with Him and love will grow by leaps and bounds, and you will be a light to the world.
LORD, KEEP MY HEART, AND HELP ME TO LOVE WISELY SO THAT OTHERS MAY SEE YOUR HEART GLOWING WITHIN MINE. HELP ME TO SHINE THE LOVE YOU HAVE FOR ME TO ALL. IN JESUS’ NAME I PRAY, AMEN.
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May God’s glory shine through
this inspirational work of fiction.
AMDG
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Painting Home Page 26